Sergio Foresti, Abchordis Ensemble & Andrea Buccarella
Release Date: 21 October 2022
Label: Challenge Classics
Packaging Type: Slip Sleeve (CD or Vinyl)
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 608917292428
Description
The third disc by baritone Sergio Foresti on Challenge Classics is devoted to the arias composed by Nicola Porpora. With a selection of arias of different moods and characters that ceaselessly tantalize and intrigue the listener, this is a disc you can listen to with constant pleasure and commitment from start to end, thanks also to the orchestral accompaniment (and overtures) and the impeccable recording and production.
Born in Naples in 1686 and deceased in the same city in 1768 Nicola Antonio Porpora is today considered as one of the most important composers of his generation, as well as a fundamental point of reference for the history of eighteenth-century music.
That Porpora was an excellent writer for the human voice and an excellent singing teacher is a fact that seems to have never been forgotten over the centuries that separate us from his artistic and biographical exploit.
For Porpora and his singers vocal virtuosity was primarily a fundamental linguistic tool to communicate ideas, and not merely a display of circus tricks. There is obsessive attention to detail, an intellectually sophisticated vision of the melodic line and its relationship with the accompaniment.
Porpora is part of that generation of Neapolitan composers of birth or formation (like Leonardo Vinci and Leonardo Leo) who were largely responsible for a series of important stylistic innovations that deeply affected the contemporary Italian opera scene. These innovations were clearly exported to the international scene from the mid-1720's and had their peak in the 1740's.
The compilation on this CD offers the listener, in this context, an interesting benefit. It combines arias of very different characters and chronological and geographical origins. They are written for different performers in different contexts, and are part of works that belong to different genres. They are the perfect tools to show the high value of a singer as well as the composer's ability to allure the listener's ears to bewitch the listener's intellect.
"Foresti sings […] with real poignancy and depth." – Opera Magazine
"This is a welcome additional to the catalogue not only because it adds to the modest number of recordings of music by this prolific composer, but also in casting a less usual slant upon the world of Baroque opera and vocal music via this repertoire for bass voice" - MusicWeb International
"...excellent performances from Sergio Foresti." - MusicWeb International
Tracklisting
The Counterpoints
Narratio Quartet
Aart Bergwerff
Roberto Prosseda
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Dejan Lazic, Jan Willem de Vriend
Ton Koopman
Duo Saraswati
Sergio Foresti, Abchordis Ensemble & Andrea Buccarella
